Page 91 of Blood Feast

Her hound lunged through the hatch. She pushed herself away from the wall and darted forward. Lio was already ahead of her, holding Final Word in both hands.

Knight slammed into the Gift Collector on their left. The man grunted in surprise and fell backward. He raised a woodcutter’s hatchet, striking at the veiled menace he couldn’t see. The swing barely skimmed Knight’s fur.

Lio met the enemy on their right, this one wielding a long, sharpened stake. He aimed a flash of light magic at the Gift Collector’s eyes. The man squinted, but he lunged forward with uncanny speed, his stake aimed at Lio’s heart.

Thelemancy shot out of Lio. Pain flared in her head as his spell hit the first layer of dream wards that guarded the Gift Collectors’ minds. Both attackers hesitated. Then the stake kept coming toward Lio’s heart.

Before Cassia could scream, Lio raised his staff across his chest and drove the shaft up against the stake. Adamas met wood and snapped the stake in two. The Gift Collector took a step back, his face betraying surprise. Lio advanced on him.

Now Cassia could slip past their duel to reach the first guard. She knelt and drew her dagger. The sight of the man’s bound hands made her stomach turn again. The Gift Collectors had extracted all his fingernails. They had made him suffer to draw Hesperines to his pain. And to entertain themselves while they waited for their prey.

When she touched his wrists, he jumped, then groaned.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered, slicing carefully at his bonds. “We are Queen Solia’s Hesperine allies, here to fight for you.”

Her words felt empty, when they were also the reason the Gift Collectors had targeted him. But the man relaxed. That simple gesture of trust made his pain in her chest hurt all the more.

A whisper cut through the air. A few paces away from her, a third Gift Collector staggered. He stared down at the spear now protruding from his chest, stained with his heart’s blood.

The Star of Orthros swept out of nowhere, bright in the darkness. The man crumpled around Mak’s spiked club and went flying off the side of the tower.

The first heart stopped.

Night’s Aim levitated backward out of the silent organ and flew into Lyros’s hand.

Cassia swallowed hard and kept sawing at the rope, cutting through the malign enchantments that strengthened it. Her spade had defeated a Gift Collector’s cursed bonds before, and it would again, by the Goddess.

Lyros and Mak turned in tandem, back to back, just in time for Mak to block an attack from the fourth Gift Collector. The necromancer’s pickaxe tangled with the spikes on Mak’s club. Lyros, with the long reach of his spear, aimed at the Gift Collector Knight had brought down.

The hatchet wielder managed to heave off Knight’s weight and rolled to one side. Night’s Aim struck the stones where the man’s eye had been. Rolling to his feet, the Gift Collector had to shift all his focus to Lyros to fend off his relentless spear.

“Leave this one to me,” Lyros called to her. “Tell Knight to protect Lio while he casts!”

Cassia nodded and called out to her hound, “Barda lomalii!”

His guard bond invoked, Knight pivoted to join Lio’s duel. The Gift Collector kept her hound at bay with another stake fromthe gruesome collection at his belt. In his other hand, he swung an iron chain that glowed with rusted light. The links caught Final Word and wound three times around the center of the staff between Lio’s hands.

Lio wrenched his weapon free, and the chain snapped. But the gleaming rust clung to the staff.

What magic is that?she asked as it crept toward Lio’s hands.

He hissed, but didn’t lose his grip.It’s eating away my veils. He can see my weapon now.

Cassia swore. She should be at his side, tearing through his enemy with all the power in her veins.

But would she only cause him more harm if she tried?

His voice was adamant in her mind.Get the mortals out of here before this battle gets any uglier.

Finally the cursed rope gave way. Cassia helped Lord Hadrian’s soldier to his feet. “Can you make it out of the lighthouse?”

“Give me a sword,” the warrior pleaded. “I won’t run from a battle.”

“Please, go. These are Orthros’s enemies, not yours. Save your life and your blade for the Queen, and let your honor be satisfied.”

He stood frozen for an instant, his face twisted with indecision. “You can signal for aid. There are herbs by the fire—throw them in, and help will come from Castra Hadria.”

“We will,” she reassured him. Even though Castra Hadria was the last place they could turn to for aid. “Tell Lord Hadrian…”

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